Our Thanksgiving tradition has been to go to the Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Charlotte and then go straight to my mom’s house for lunch. This year it was unusually cold, but we went to the parade anyway. Faith loves to see the “princesses” which are actually beauty queens, Wilson likes the bands, and I love to go and do something that we don’t usually get to do. We all win! Well, except Faith, this year. No beauty queens. I found out later it is because there was a new sponsor for the parade and they don’t do beauty contests. Faith was disappointed, but the rest of us had fun. Luckily we brought a blanket to sit on and then wrap around us. It was only 40 degrees outside.
After the parade we drove over to my mom’s house. There are usually about 30 people there, most of which are my dad’s brothers and sisters and their families. We even had some friends join and they just blended into the madness. Everyone brings a dish so there is more food than we can all eat. I should have taken a picture, but I didn’t. You name, we ate it.
After a few hours I was talked out so I sat on the couch with Tom while Wilson and Miller napped. It was very relaxing. We were the last to leave mom’s house. After the crowds cleared out we hung out and talked to Grandmama Pat for a while (my mom’s mom). She now lives in town and it is great to see her so often.
After we got home I decided to head over to Old Navy because they were opening at 7:00 and you could enter to win $1 million dollars. Abigail, my neighbor, went with me. We were number 300 into the store. It sounds like a lot of people but it wasn’t too bad, that is, until you wanted to check out! The line wrapped around the store. We decided that it wasn’t worth it, set down our stuff and left. The lesson I learned: If you go on Thanksgiving, walk straight to what you know that you want to buy, grab it, and head straight to the registers. Live and learn. Next year I will try again.
It was a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful, loving and healthy family. I am supported and loved by so many friends and family. I am truly blessed and thanksful!
Here we are at the parade.